The value of tolerance for
paradise varies depending on
the tolerance, the paradise.
That was a dusty road,
though freshly planted
with crops along each side.
The flat rock denotes childish
anticipation, the jewel-filled
rock is for flight. What do
you mean, diminished. How
one “navigates the blemishes”
of others is what makes one
human, and in this sense at
least, a human is a stylus.
Rhythm, however, floods
through meaning, mostly. A
real effort to see the sun has
not relieved the weight of
beauty even a little.
Andy Stallings lives, teaches, and coaches cross country running at Deerfield Academy in Western Massachusetts. His first book of poems, To the Heart of the World, came out with Rescue Press in 2014, and other poems from Paradise can be found around the internet.